1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mutual capacitive touch panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Development of computer peripherals has occurred alongside that of computers using digital technology. Personal computers, portable transmitters and other information equipment conduct text processing and graphic processing using such various input devices as keyboards, mice and the like.
With the rapid progress of the information society, the application of computers is expanding. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult to efficiently operate computers using keyboards and mice as input devices. Therefore, it is required to develop input devices which are easy to operate, which do not malfunction, and by which data can be easily input by users.
Further, input devices are required to have high reliability, durability, originality, design and machinability as well as satisfy general functions. For this reason, a touch panel, which is an input device capable of inputting textual information, graphic information and the like, was developed.
The touch panel is provided on the display surface of electronic organizers, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electroluminescent displays (ELDs), cathode ray tubes (CRT) and the like, and is used to allow users to select desired information.
Touch panels are classified into resistive touch panels, capacitive touch panels, electromagnetic touch panels, surface acoustic wave (SAW) type touch panels, and infrared touch panels. These various touch panels are employed in electronic products in consideration of the problem of signal amplification, a difference in resolution, difficulties in design and machining technologies, optical characteristics, electrical characteristics, mechanical characteristics, environmental characteristics, input characteristics, durability and economic efficiency. Among these various touch panels, resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels are the most widely used. Among them, capacitive touch panels have lately attracted considerable attention because they have high transmissivity and durability.
In a conventional capacitive touch panel, a transparent electrode is formed over the entire surface of a transparent substrate or is patterned in one direction. Therefore, the conventional capacitive touch panel is problematic in that the resistance of the transparent electrode is excessively increased when the transparent electrode is made of a conductive polymer having relatively high surface resistance. In conclusion, there is a problem in that the conductive polymer cannot be used to manufacture a large size touch screen and thus cannot be used as a raw material of the transparent electrode because the conductive polymer has excessively high surface resistance even though it has excellent flexibility and processability compared to indium tin oxide (ITO).